Last week, the panel of former NASCAR drivers, owners, crew members and media – along with a fan vote – included Richie Evans among its five inductees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012.

If you need to know who Richie Evans is, perhaps you shouldn’t be reading this in the first place. However, I’m a fan of spreading the word of racing history, so let me tell you why Richie Evans belongs in the same class as Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.

Simply put, Evans is one of the two greatest champions in NASCAR history. With nine titles in NASCAR-sanctioned Modified touring series, the late, great driver of the No. 61 car technically has more championships than – prepare for the blasphemy – Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty.

Before there was ever a series that we now call the Sprint Cup, NASCAR was putting on Modified races. I hate to break it to you uninitiated out there, but there’s more to “NASCAR” than just the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series. If you say, “I’m watching NASCAR,” that also can apply to the action down at Stafford, Thompson or Monadnock.

The man that is tied with Evans atop the list of NASCAR’s most honored drivers has fond memories of racing’s most underrated legend.

“Everyone has their time in their era,” said Mike Stefanik, a seven-time Modified champion and two-time East Series champion. “They compare basketball players from the ‘70s to the guys today, but a lot of things change. In his time, in his day, Richie was the best there was. I don’t know how you compare.

“I don’t know if there is any formula for figuring that out. But I do know that he was the man. I look at Richie Evans as the king of Modifieds. That’s just the way it is.”

Evans, who died in 1985 in a crash during practice at Martinsville, Va., is the best of his era at what he did. That gets people in other sporting halls of fame. Why, then, shouldn’t he have been in the FIRST class inducted last year?

If you are a driver on the Northeast racing scene and you don’t know who Richie Evans is, turn in your license. Even a 20-something like defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Keith Rocco has a healthy respect for those who came before him.

“To me, he’s a hero and a legend,” Rocco said. “I know it might sound silly, but I think of myself as trying to follow something (Evans) did – where you race as much as you can, travel as much as you can, do everything you can to race and to try to win.”

Richie Evans was a racer’s racer. He never let success get to his head, even if he probably knew he had the talent to race with the Waltrips, Pettys and Yarboroughs of his time.

“He never really wanted to be in the major spotlight,” NASCAR Hall of Fame historian Buz McKim said. “He just wanted to come to the track, do a little racing, pick up his check and do a little partying. His legend, even when he was alive, went way outside the Northeast. That’s just amazing.”

The longer Richie Evans stayed out of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in my opinion, the less complete it would have been. I had planned on not going to the shrine until he was inducted, so now I am safe to head down to Charlotte.

And so should all of you who sat in the stands at Riverside, Stafford and elsewhere and watched him race the best those places had to offer.

CHIPPING IN: One of Stan Mertz’ fellow drivers in the Pro-Four Modified Series saw last week’s column on his tornado relief efforts and gave his own contribution at last weekend’s race at Monadnock Speedway.

Norm Wrenn gave a $100 donation to the Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross. Mertz will also donate the winnings from his ninth-place finish. Rob Richardi Jr. was the winner.

In addition, the No. 16 team in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – sponsored by Flamingo Motorsports of Palmer – will donate its winnings from this Saturday’s Monadnock 200 to the Monson Tornado Assistance Fund. Stefanik drives the car, which is owned by Eric Sanderson.

HOT LAPS:Sergio Pena won for the second time this season in his home state of Virginia, taking the checkers in last Saturday's NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Langley Speedway in Hampton ... Joe Krawiec took first place in the USAC Dirt Midget Association feature last Saturday at Bear Ridge Speedway in Vermont ... Stefanik triumphed in the Valenti Modified Racing Series event last Thursday at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.